Nearly two months ago while browsing through Target, a journal titled “The Story of my Life,” caught my eye. I picked it up and looked through it. The journal was divided into four sections: Childhood & Family, Young Adulthood & Firsts, Adulthood, and Retrospective. Each section contained around 50 writing prompts, with each prompt listed on a separate page giving the writer the entire page to respond to the prompt. I instantly thought that this book would make a great gift for my grandfather, who I’ve always wished to know more about… You see, despite my frequent visits to see my grandparents, I feel as though there is so much I don’t know about them. I figured that by giving my grandfather this book I could perhaps find myself better understanding what his life had been like, and how he’d truly felt throughout it. I shared this idea with my brother, who thought it were swell, but doubted that my grandfather would be keen on writing in the book. Still, we purchased it anyway and figured there was no harm in trying. I am a realist, and although sad, I will admit to you that my grandfather is nearing the end of his life, he is 81 years old and is in pain frequently. He’s still mobile and working, however, he and my grandma are frequently visiting doctors. I know that the time will come soon when I lose my grandparents, and I want to have something from them to help me remember who they are, what their lives were like, and their experiences in the world. As a writer, nothing could be more valuable to me than their written testaments, and so, two weeks ago, my brother and I gifted my grandpa the journal and asked him if he’d write in it for us. As we expected, he told us he’d try, and we left it at that.
Before giving my grandpa the journal, it spent a decent amount of time sitting around our home; mostly in the dining room where it found its way into my mother's hands. She developed an interest in the book and would frequently read the prompts when she’d sit down at the table. She liked the idea of the book and told us that she planned on getting one for her mother to help better capture her life.
After gifting the book to my grandfather, my mother was eager to know how things were going. The prospect of the journal filled excited us all. Although deep down we all knew the likelihood of my grandfather actually writing in the book was very slim.
“Did he write?” My mother asked my brother and I after returning home from visiting our grandparents nearly a week after we’d given him the book.
“No,” I answered feeling rather defeated. “ But he said that he’d try, and we talked about it.”
My mother knew that it was quite unlikely for my grandfather to pick up the journal and write on his own, so she suggested that we write in it for him when we when to visit, “that’s what I’d do if it were my mother,” she told us. And I knew she was right. If we didn’t ask my grandpa the questions and write down his responses for him, the book would remain empty evermore. I visited my grandparents a few times after my mother had given me advice, but was drowned by homework that I didn’t have time to pick up the journal. Yesterday, my brother and I’s schools were canceled due to a snowstorm, and so we decided to take some time out of our day to go visit our grandparents.
When we arrived I saw the book on the coffee table and instantly picked it up. I looked through a couple of the prompts before landing on one I thought I could make do with. “When I was young, my biggest fear was…” the prompt read. My grandfather gave me a short list of the things he was afraid of when he was younger like his father and his big brother, and afterward, told me about a few fights he’d experienced in his younger days. (This is how all of this ties into today's prompt.) “I am not a fighter,” he told me, “I’ve always relied on my friends when situations turned violent.” And so, my grandfather told me about the three times he was involved in a somewhat violent incident and found himself fearful. I took notes and recorded his story. Yesterday, finally, a pen was pressed to the page of that book and one of my grandfather's stories was forever recorded, now never to be forgotten…
I believe that this is only the beginning. Thanks to my mother's advice I plan to complete at least one prompt every time I see my grandfather going forward, and afterward, hope to purchase the same journal for my grandmother. The stories of our elders are far too often being lost, we must do everything in our power to ensure we save as much of them as we can… it’s our history.
— March
Before giving my grandpa the journal, it spent a decent amount of time sitting around our home; mostly in the dining room where it found its way into my mother's hands. She developed an interest in the book and would frequently read the prompts when she’d sit down at the table. She liked the idea of the book and told us that she planned on getting one for her mother to help better capture her life.
After gifting the book to my grandfather, my mother was eager to know how things were going. The prospect of the journal filled excited us all. Although deep down we all knew the likelihood of my grandfather actually writing in the book was very slim.
“Did he write?” My mother asked my brother and I after returning home from visiting our grandparents nearly a week after we’d given him the book.
“No,” I answered feeling rather defeated. “ But he said that he’d try, and we talked about it.”
My mother knew that it was quite unlikely for my grandfather to pick up the journal and write on his own, so she suggested that we write in it for him when we when to visit, “that’s what I’d do if it were my mother,” she told us. And I knew she was right. If we didn’t ask my grandpa the questions and write down his responses for him, the book would remain empty evermore. I visited my grandparents a few times after my mother had given me advice, but was drowned by homework that I didn’t have time to pick up the journal. Yesterday, my brother and I’s schools were canceled due to a snowstorm, and so we decided to take some time out of our day to go visit our grandparents.
When we arrived I saw the book on the coffee table and instantly picked it up. I looked through a couple of the prompts before landing on one I thought I could make do with. “When I was young, my biggest fear was…” the prompt read. My grandfather gave me a short list of the things he was afraid of when he was younger like his father and his big brother, and afterward, told me about a few fights he’d experienced in his younger days. (This is how all of this ties into today's prompt.) “I am not a fighter,” he told me, “I’ve always relied on my friends when situations turned violent.” And so, my grandfather told me about the three times he was involved in a somewhat violent incident and found himself fearful. I took notes and recorded his story. Yesterday, finally, a pen was pressed to the page of that book and one of my grandfather's stories was forever recorded, now never to be forgotten…
I believe that this is only the beginning. Thanks to my mother's advice I plan to complete at least one prompt every time I see my grandfather going forward, and afterward, hope to purchase the same journal for my grandmother. The stories of our elders are far too often being lost, we must do everything in our power to ensure we save as much of them as we can… it’s our history.
— March
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